A terror incident in Inabanga, Bohol?
The social media networks were agog in reporting that incident in Barangay Napo, Inabanga, Bohol, where armed men were found at dawn by alert policemen, and reports say that there was gunfire that ensued where unconfirmed sources say that at least 10 armed men were killed with four soldiers injured or killed. I'm writing this piece however as of our deadlines, we cannot yet confirm with any details of the shooting incident in Inabanga, except that a US travel advisory urging its citizens to avoid Central Visayas has been validated. I'm sure you will be able to read more reports in the front page of The FREEMAN today.
Just early yesterday morning, Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa confirmed the reports of a potential terror group that would strike in Central Visayas. The attack by armed groups in Inabanga, Bohol, has now confirmed what the intelligence folks have told our police authorities. I listened over the AM radio pundits praising the US Embassy for their accuracy. But the US travel advisory warned of a possible kidnapping. So were those armed men out to kidnap certain personalities in Bohol? We need to find out more about this incident. Abangan!
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I read with interest The FREEMAN's editorial yesterday entitled, "Tokhang finds interesting recruits". Allow me to reprint the first paragraphs of that article. "Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III and Vice Governor Agnes Magpale joined the police last week in conducting a 'Tokhang' operation in Cordova. Contrary to the common understanding of many, 'Tokhang' is a persuasive effort to draw people away from illegal drugs. It is not a police operation characterized by guns blazing and dead bodies piling. That is a mental picture cooked up by enemies of the president.
"Davide and Magpale must have been fired by the best of intentions in joining 'Tokhang' considering that they belong to the very party that is at the heart of making the life of the president difficult. Only the best of intentions can make the two officials oblivious to the fact that by joining 'Tokhang' they have become witnesses to the fact that it is not what many of their own partymates have projected it to be."
I'm pretty glad that our editors in The FREEMAN wrote this editorial piece simply because both Gov. Davide and Magpale belong to the Liberal Party which have openly charged the Duterte administration of Extra Judicial Killings which is allegedly the result of their Tokhang operations. I hope they don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that it was wrong for both Governor Davide and Vice Governor Agnes Magpale to join Tokhang operations. In my book, the fight against illegal drugs is not the fight of Pres. Duterte alone, but the fight of the Filipino people in order to save our youth from destroying their brains and their lives.
While the LP party continues to destabilize the Duterte administration by using their foreign connections in trying to discredit Pres. Duterte with his Human Rights records, we must never forget that the cancer of illegal drugs worsened in the six years under the Aquino Regime. Today, data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency shows that there are some 3 million drug addicts in the Philippines, which may have increased to 3.7 million according to the Philippine Dangerous Drugs Board. In short, the Tokhang operations were created to clean up the mess left behind by the incompetent Aquino Regime!
I recall the challenge posed by my fellow columnist, Atty. Paul Oaminal who said he would pay anyone P7,000 if he can show from any of the State of the Nation Addresses of Pres. Benigno "PNoy" Aquino III on what his government has done against illegal drugs. So far there have been no takers, which means that Atty. Oaminal was right!
Incidentally, when Pres. Duterte accused top PNP officials, like Police Director Marcelo Garbo to be on top of the illegal drugs syndicate, we do not know what has happened to him, whether he is in police custody or has fled the country. In my book, flight means guilt. So once more, let us help the government in this fight against illegal drugs, as it is the fight for the future of our children.
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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected] or [email protected]. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.
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